Custom licence management app for software resellers
Appfront builds apps for software resellers and IT service providers who resell manufacturers' licences: per customer which products, how many seats, which term and which end date, the purchase from the distributor alongside the re-invoicing to the customer, and a signal well before a subscription expires or renews automatically. So that no renewal goes through unnoticed and no seat is bought that is not invoiced.
What is a licence management app for a software reseller?
Licence management at a reseller is different from licence management within a single organisation. The reseller manages the licences of its customers: per customer which products, how many seats, monthly or annual, with which end date and which notice period. He purchases from a distributor or through a manufacturer's portal and re-invoices with a margin. An app puts those two sides side by side: what has been purchased, what has been invoiced, and what is due to expire soon.
Without such an app, purchasing sits in three portals, invoicing in the accounting package and the end dates in a spreadsheet that the account manager updates when he remembers. A customer who scales down seats is invoiced less, but the subscription with the distributor continues; an annual subscription renews automatically while the customer wanted to cancel. The margin leaks away in lines nobody places side by side.
We build bespoke software because management has to align with your distributors and your invoicing: which portals you use and what they export, how your price lists and margins are structured, how you invoice and which agreements you make with customers about renewal and cancellation. A manufacturer's portal knows its own products, not the customer who buys from three manufacturers.
Licences per customer
Per customer, all products from all manufacturers with seats, term, end date, renewal type and notice period, with the contact person and the history of changes.
Purchasing alongside invoices
What has been purchased from the distributor, alongside what has been invoiced to the customer, per product and per period. Discrepancies in quantities or prices appear at the top.
Renewals in advance
A list of subscriptions that expire or renew automatically soon, with the decision the customer must make and the date by which it must be made.
How we build your licence management app for a software reseller
We start with the margin: how many licences you have outstanding, across how many distributors, and how often recently your purchasing and invoicing didn't match.
Which distributors and manufacturer portals you use, what they export or deliver via an integration, how you invoice, and how renewals are currently tracked.
The existing licences per customer in the app, from exports and from your invoicing, along with the discrepancies that surface when merging them.
The monthly reconciliation between purchasing and invoicing, the alerts for renewals and seat changes, and the overview per customer for the account manager.
Integrations with distributors and accounting, resale invoicing from within the app, and then management and expansion with new manufacturers.
What a licence management app for a software reseller actually does
The components below come up with almost every reseller. Which ones you need depends on the number of manufacturers and on how you currently invoice.
Licence register
For each customer, every product with seats, term, end date, renewal type, notice period and purchasing source, searchable by customer, manufacturer and product.
Renewal calendar
Subscriptions that are expiring or renewing automatically, with the date by which the customer must decide and a task for the account manager.
Purchasing reconciliation
Quantities and prices from the distributor alongside the invoice to the customer, per month, with discrepancies flagged and the margin per line.
Seat changes
Seat increases and decreases recorded with a date, so that purchasing and invoicing are adjusted at the same moment.
Client overview
Per customer, all licences from all manufacturers on one screen, with the total monthly cost and the upcoming decision points.
Reporting
Revenue and margin per manufacturer and per customer, seat numbers over time, renewal rate and the discrepancies that have been resolved.
Who we build a licence management app for a software reseller for
The app is intended for parties that resell licences and whose administration no longer keeps pace with the number of customers and manufacturers.
Software resellers
Licences from multiple manufacturers to many customers. Purchasing reconciliation and the renewal calendar are the core.
Managed service providers
Licences as part of a managed services contract. The customer overview and monthly seat changes matter most.
SMB IT service providers
A smaller customer base with their own service contracts. The register and renewal alerts are what's needed.
Distributors with their own resellers
A layer on top: licences per reseller and per end customer. Reporting and reconciliation per partner are the core.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page is about licences you resell. For managing your own licences within one organisation, see our page on licence management software; for recurring invoices, our page on an invoicing app; and for your own subscription product, our page on building SaaS. You can read about our approach at custom software development.
Why Appfront for your licence management app for a software reseller?
A licence nobody tracks renews by itself. We build on that: every licence per customer, every renewal in advance, and purchasing and invoicing on one line.
No renewals slipping through unnoticed
What expires or renews automatically sits on a list with the date by which the customer must decide. The account manager calls before the renewal, not after.
The margin adds up
Purchasing and invoicing sit side by side each month. A seat that is bought but not invoiced stands out at the first reconciliation.
One view per customer
All manufacturers of one customer on a single screen. The renewal conversation is about the whole account, not about one portal.
Security and privacy for a licence management app at a software reseller
The app holds customer data, contract terms, purchase prices and margins. Access is set by role: the account manager sees their own customers, finance sees the reconciliation, and management sees the margins. Every change to a licence or price is logged with name and time.
The app runs in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily backups. Integrations with distributors and accounting use their own keys, which can be revoked per integration.
Frequently asked questions about a licence management app for software resellers
Questions resellers ask before they get started.
It keeps track, per customer, of every licence you have resold, including seats, term, end date and renewal type. It places the purchase from the distributor alongside the invoice to the customer, flags renewals well in advance, and shows the full picture per customer. Differences in quantities and prices are raised at the monthly reconciliation.
Standard licence management software is about the licences of a single organisation: what is installed and what has been bought. A reseller manages the licences of hundreds of customers, with purchasing on one side and invoicing with margin on the other. Bringing those two sides together is the work this app does.
Yes, via exports or via the integration a portal offers; which distributor you use determines how automated that can be. In the first step we look at what can be extracted from each portal and how often.
Every licence has an end date and a notice period. The app counts back to the date by which the customer must decide, creates a task for the account manager, and records what the customer has decided.
Yes, if you want it to. The app creates the invoice lines based on the licences and your pricing agreements, and passes them on to your accounting system. If you prefer to keep invoicing as it is today, the app reads in your invoices for the reconciliation.
Yes. Alongside manufacturer licences, your own services can be added as items with the same term, renewal and invoicing. That way the entire contract for each customer sits in one place.
Check that first. Some packages handle contracts with renewals and import distributor invoices, which is enough when you deal with one or two manufacturers. Custom development makes sense if you purchase from several distributors, if the reconciliation between purchasing and invoicing is currently done by hand, or if renewal terms differ from customer to customer.
No more renewals rolling over unnoticed?
Tell us which distributors you buy from, how many customers and licences you manage, and how you invoice today. We will show you what the register, the reconciliation and the renewal calendar look like.